Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Twelve Days of Murder
AUTHOR: Jason Wrench
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 252 Pages
RELEASE DATE: November 23, 2021
BLURB:
The holidays are hard enough for widowed NYC detective Frank Schultt without the gifts of a Christmas serial killer and a handsome FBI criminalist.
On the first day of Christmas, a serial killer gave to me, twelve holiday murders…
A killer is on the loose in New York City during the Christmas holidays and it’s up to NYC Detective Frank Schultt and his partner to figure out who the killer is and put a stop to it.
Five years before, during the Christmas season, the widowed detective had found his husband shot dead in a liquor store robbery. He’s finally on the mend and trying to get his life and career back on track, but this case might prove too much for his recovery.
A mysterious FBI criminalist named Aaron Massey is assigned to help him solve the crimes, but the witty and attractive profiler raises feelings in Frank that he doesn’t know how to handle.
Can Aaron help Frank break through his emotional walls fast enough to stop the killings, solve the case and fall in love before Christmas?
Reader advisory: This book contains vivid descriptions of crime scenes and body parts, plus a hostage scene with a shooting, references to drug addiction, trafficking and implied sexual abuse of children.
REVIEW:
Frank has had a troubled and tragic past. As a result, he became a cop, has built emotional walls, and hates the Christmas Season. When body parts start appearing over the city, it confirms all he hates about the season. When Aaron first saw Frank, Aaron was undercover and a suspect in Frank’s case. Sparks fly, of varying kinds, but when Aaron’s case ends, instructions from those on high force them to work together – something Aaron was more pleased about than Frank.
Twelve Days of Murder is told in the third person from the viewpoints of Frank and Aaron. Technically, I found it sound.
As the characters go, I liked the cast as a whole. FBI agent, Aaron, can be pushed and pushed, but I loved his plain-speaking, take-charge manner and leadership qualities when he pushes back. As a profiler, he can read people and adjust his conversational tone accordingly,
Frank is a broken man, he knows it, and his emotions could change quickly, but he is doing his best and has a sound support system in place. What Frank went through was heartbreaking, and there is nothing logical or timely about recovery – it’s purely learning to cope. Their first few encounters are contentious, and the trust issues between departments are prevalent.
I enjoyed the concept of this story, and it was the blurb that made me pick it up. Unfortunately, I had a few issues with it, too. Bio’s of the various characters tended to be presented as an information dump instead of emerging through the story. Given that this novel is not part of a series, I felt that the extensive detail interrupted the flow of the story. I am aware, though, that there are readers who relish thorough backgrounds, etc. And I commend the author for not holding back on some of the grizzly scenes that only a forensic scientist would appreciate.
In one section, the author writes that Frank spotted the forensics expert, Mariella, and his colleague Aaron, then asked how to find them in the following sentence. Other areas of the story arc and its execution also caused me to pause, providing questionable conversations or elements that made me doubt the effectiveness of the NYPD and its associated politicians – but I can’t say what they are without revealing spoilers.
Anyone who picks up a detective story has a pretty good idea of terminology. So, to have cops asking requiring explanations of what a psychopath or a serial murder is, felt like a bit of an insult to my intelligence, and frankly, any cops who ask those questions should be sent back to basic training. Again, these extra dictionary/teaching details detracted from the story’s impact.
The over-engineered/manipulated dialogue and areas that caused me to pause are the reasons why I gave this book a mediocre mark. I would not say that it is for the experienced detective novel reader, although the personal journeys of Frank and Aaron were touching.
RATING: 
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